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Red Life
Red Life is an American animated series created by Elliot Strange. The show is a reboot of Grojband, using more or less the same characters. The show is aimed at teenagers, but has also gained a following with young adults, thanks to its humor. Production Wanting to get back into the television industry, Elliot Strange decided to produce a remake of the Canadian series Grojband. He was never satisfied with the original version, so alongside Cal Clarion, he acquired the rights to the show and was thus able to make a version of his own. He believed that the original series was confusing, and he found Trina to be the most interesting character on the show. The show is produced by Check Meats (now under the name Meats are Evil!), in cooperation with Jay Kogen (through Passable Entertainment), and since season 2, is funded and co-produced by Media Rights Capital (the show also receives funding from the Georgia Entertainment Industries tax incentive program.) Strange originally pitched the show to the Disney Channel, but they rejected the pilot. They moved the show to Disney XD where it currently airs. This is the first Disney animated series to be entirely producer driven, and not made exclusively by Disney. New episodes aired at 5PM on Saturdays, but this was changed to 7PM on Wednesdays due to the network fearing that younger viewers might see the show. The pilot appeared on the main Disney Network, but was soon moved to Disney XD. Plot The premise is near-identical to the original Grojband, only difference is that the roles of Corey and Trina have been switched. It could be considered a spiritual successor to Grojband, as Trina is still getting routinely humiliated by her brother and his band. The show follows her daily life and how her temper gets her into trouble, leading to her attempting to fix it and learning a moral towards the end. Aside from constantly dealing with her brother, she is also attempting to re-invent herself and fully regain the trust of her friend Mina. The show takes place in Banstrom (which according to Elliot Strange is a mix between El Paso, Illinois and Melbourne, Australia, his place of birth) The first season followed a non-linear and comedic style. In season 2, the show became more complex and some changes were made. Laney became more of a regular character, Corey begins to reevaluate his way of thinking, Kon is no longer under house arrest Kin begins to make more appearances and Trina matures as well. Characters Main * Trina Riffin (Christina Pucelli): The older sister of Corey. She's cynical, uppity, insecure, generally negative and suffers from severe anger issues. These attributes have been brought upon by many years of humiliation brought upon by her younger brother. Knowing that she'll never get anywhere in life with her attitude, she attempts to fix herself, to varying success. There're times when she gives into her hostile attitude, but she manages to stop before it gets worse. Deep down, she is a nice girl, but years of humiliation and a lack of self-esteem have left her bitter. * Mina Beff (Andi McAfee): Trina's on and off best friend. Mina is timid, shy, brainy and socially awkward, and the only reason she ever tried to get on Trina's good side was because she believed she was popular. The two have clashed after Mina finally snapped at Trina due to years of abuse, but Trina is currently attempting to repair their friendship. Mina insists that she never hated Trina to begin with and she merely wanted to show her the error of her ways, though Trina hardly listens to this. In spite of their mixed feelings, they still hang out and confide with one another whenever necessary. It has been shown that Mina has a violent temper of her own, outmatching Trina's, but her mother has helped her keep it under control. Classmates * Nick Mallory (Will Friedle in his first two appearances, Greg Cipes for future episodes): Trina's original love interest. He debuted in You Know Where This is Going and also appeared in Turnaround in a psudo-antagonist role. Since then, he has regretted hurting Trina and is interested in getting into a relationship with her, though Trina is hesitant. * Dennis Artranis (Will Forte): Trina's classmate. He secretly has a crush on her, but her fierce temper prevented him from acting on it. Conversely, Trina has little issue with him, save for viewing him as a coward and getting put off by his interests. Trina is very appreciative of Dennis whenever he goes out of his way to do something nice for her. He has an obsession with the fictional band "The Beetlez" and the 70s, which is reflected upon by his mannerisms. * Cooper (Jon Heder): Dennis' friend. A young African American boy who serves as a voice of reason for his often uncooperative friends. He has a crush on Mina, who constantly turns him down, much to his displeasure. * Seline (Alyson Stoner): A typical popular girl who serves as a rival to Trina and Mina. She has an obsession with befriending people of differing races, due to a mishap that happened a few years ago. She annoys Trina a lot, but the latter managed to get revenge on her in "Mellow Out" where she humiliates her and steals her friends. * Allison Walsh (Aubrey Plaza): Seline's former partner in crime. She's more expressive than any of her friends and is very silly, though she could get serious whenever it's necessary, and is highly devoted to her friends. Allison's also somewhat of a tomboy, but she felt restricted in expressing that due to the social hierarchy she was once part of. She used to be friends with Seline until Trina stole her from her as revenge for hurting Mina. It was revealed in Some Kind of Special that her behavior might be due to some kind of mental disability (hinted to be autism). It's revealed in A Lesson On Backbone that she's Canadian and was born in Calgary. * Colleen Hatch (Andi McAfee): Another former friend of Seline. Colleen is a shy, quiet girl who rarely ever speaks. She is best identified by her pink coat and winter cap (which she wears even when it isn't winter, but removes when it is) as well as her big blue eyes. According to Seline, this was done as a compromise when her parents couldn't afford proper contact lenses. Like Allison, she used to be friends with Seline until Trina took her and Allison under her wing. Colleen is Allison's best friend and she tries to help the latter however she could. In The Incredible Sadness, she is revealed to be quite strategic, coming up with a logical solution to stopping Trina and Mina. Colleen was revealed to be an insomniac and she gives forms to her teachers which allow her to sleep whenever necessary. It's implied that Colleen is part Dutch. * Kathy Banks (Mary Mack): A much older girl who formerly worked with Trowa before the latter left Trina's school. She is self-gratifying towards her body, particularly her butt, and she tends to play tricks on her friends, but she does mean well. When she was still involved with Trowa, she was very loyal to her and she ignored the advice of people who were antagonized by the former, only to finally learn from her mistake after Mina made Trowa reveal her true colors. After Trowa unintentionally insulted her mother, Kathy abandoned her and left school to live with her grandfather in Fresno. However, she makes an appearance in Don't Let the Documentary Do the Talking in a major role. * Dwight (Bumper Robinson): The school bully. His intentions and way of operating change depending on the episode. Some episodes feature him physically assaulting weaker students while others feature him merely insulting them verbally. Within the few interactions he had with Trina, they seem to have a mixed relationship. In one episode, he punches Trina in the face, breaking her jaw and nearly killing her, but in Turnaround, he seemingly helps her make it to the dance so she could be with Nick. Dwight's motives are done not to be mean, but to help build up the self-esteem of others by encouraging them to stand up for themselves. It's revealed that he tends to a garden in his spare time. * Mortimer (Brian Posehn): A typical nerd with many disturbing habits. He has yet to play a major role in any episode, being restricted to a set-piece for jokes. He has a passion for singing, and when he actually does so, he sounds robotic. He tends to freak out the other students merely by being within the same room, but he seems to be fine with it. His family appears in Love Pentagon (he has two parents, an older sister, a younger sister, an older brother and two younger twin brothers). For some reason, he seems to attract a lot of women (his mother is a model). Mortimer appears to be a rival to Kin. * Mike, Brian and Joe Fench (Andy Berman, David Hornsby and Scott Menville): Snobbish triplets who constantly evoke their superiority to their classmates. They often provoke Trina more than anyone else, but they thankfully get called out on it. Mike is the leader of the trio and has a much more collected personality, often handling any situations the brothers get into, Brian is the less intelligent of the three and he unintentionally screws up whatever plans they're doing due to his lack of common sense and Joe has a trigger happy personality and often makes outbursts even when they aren't necessary. Their jabs toward Trina are done because they're both fans of Grojband, and they might be aligned with Corey. Their names are sourced from Joe Davola, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, and their personalities correlate with how Strange interprets the IRL producers. Teachers * Mr. Pritchett (Donovan Patton): Trina's math teacher. He's very incompetent at his job (rather than teaching the class, he elects to show them videos or base lessons on popular media.) As a result, he's very popular with his class and he has kept his job under request of the students. It's implied that he also bribes Principal Trager into keeping his job under the condition that his annual paycheck gets halved. It has been believed by many that Mr. Pritchett is a homosexual, but they soon realize that he's simply childish and easily excitable. He was once a prominent actor, until his career was ruined by his agent, and it has stuck with him since. * Coach Nels (Andy Dick): Trina's gym teacher. Physically weak and lacking backbone, he doesn't seem to take his job as seriously as he should. It has been revealed that he's a closeted homosexual and has confessed his affection to Mr. Pritchett. Nels' homosexuality was included to follow the trend of kids cartoons featuring homosexual characters. Aside from teaching gym, Nels also works as a drama teacher, but since it has been implied that gym was indefinitely cancelled it's possible that Nels is no longer a gym teacher. * Principal Samuel Harris Iglesias Trager (Michael Richards): The school principal. It is rumored that he has worked every position in the school at one point in his career, hence, he is very knowledgeable of each subject and is ready to correct any of his staff members when needed. He tends to interact with his students over the phone, and he takes the guise of a man named Jerry whenever he tells them bad news. He treats the staff very poorly, especially Miss Corbis and he has a very strict way of operating, showing no mercy when it comes to laying down a punishment. However, following Corbis' supposed death, he became a lot nicer to the teachers and students. His appearance is modeled after Vladislav Listyev. * Vice Principal C. Ruben Abraham Petkov (Larry Miller): The second in command at Trina's school. He's insecure, unstable and often incompetent at his job, and he tends to give ludicrous punishments to students whenever he's left in charge of the school. It was revealed that he used to play sports when he was in college until he suffered from a severe head injury that stunted his brain. His appearance is based on Alexander Korzhakov. * Miss Corbis (Florence Henderson (Kathy Kinney for later episodes)): Trina's history teacher. She is often hard on Trina, thanks to a series of mishaps that befell her (unintentionally caused by Trina) and tends to be very strict. It's implied that she's even more cruel than Trina and Mina and hence, she isn't very popular with her class. It has been revealed that she lives a lonely life and she takes her frustration out on her students. In Beyond The Third Floor, it's revealed that she has a crush on Trina's father. * Nurse Mike (Kel Mitchell): The school nurse. Mike is a retired soldier who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He encourages the kids to be themselves and do as they please, and he often acts out his war experiences with them. * Estus (Dave Willis): The school janitor. Estus was previously part of the mob, but was forced to go undercover after he exposed his friends to the police to avoid a life sentence. He also runs a magazine stand on the weekends whenever he's low on money. He's part Armenian. Corey and His Friends * Corey (Robbie Amell): Trina's younger brother, and the frontman of Grojband. He frequently steals his sister's diary and exploits her emotions in order to write hit songs. Naturally, the two siblings hate each other, though Trina is the only one who stresses this. In spite of this, Corey has shown that he does care for his sister, but his actions against her only drive them apart further. As the series progressed, the two seem to have reached a moral understanding, though they still occasionally bicker. In "Bugs", Corey delayed the school play so Trina could have more time to prepare for her role. * Laney (Linda Cardellini): One of Corey's friends. She made her first appearance in Scarlet Rose where she and Trina compete to see who has the most violent temper, only for the both of them to wind up losing to Mina after they accidentally destroy her laptop during a fight. She makes another major appearance in Ritual where she is possessed by a demonic television network. In comparison to the other characters from Grojband, her personality hasn't changed. A prevalent running gag (held over from Grojband) is that people believe she's a boy. * Kon (Travis Willingham): Another one of Corey's friends. He has attempted to court Trina, but after an unknown encounter where she humiliated him, he went on a vandalism spree which led to a 2 year house arrest. He gained a considerable amount of weight and spent his sentence making internet videos. Kon plays a major role in Konman where on what would've been his last day on house arrest, he attempts to make a relationship proposal to Trina. Trina declines the offer, which causes him to leave his house to confront her personally and triggers his ankle bracelet, lengthening his sentence. Since then, his sentence was revoked and he now hangs out regularly with Corey and the others. * Kin (David Anthony Higgins): Kon's brother and a typical nerd. He's a lot more spontaneous than his other friends and he tends to annoy anyone outside of his personal circle. For a time, he relayed info Kon wanted to give to Corey and Laney when he was still under house arrest. Kin frequently clashes with Mortimer over random things, which put him at odds with Trina and her circle of friends. As far as his interactions with Trina go, she seems to be more of an annoyance to him than anything else. Enemies/Rivals * Endo: An emo rock band that often competes against Grojband. They're generally loathed by everyone (even Trina and Mina) yet they still press on. They haven't played a major role in any episode, but akin to Mortimer, they act as a base for jokes. This is based on a real band of the same name. ** Ryan (Danny Cooksey): The lead singer. He is best recognized by his mediocre rapping skills and screaming his lyrics. He thinks very highly of himself and looses his mind whenever people don't have anything positive to say about him. * Trowa (Tamera Mowry): One of the more prominent school bullies. She harassed others regularly along with her former partner Kathy, which led to both becoming the most hated and students in the school. Mina is forced to deal with her after a misunderstanding and she soon learns that their vile behavior manifests into monstrous forms (they literally turn into monsters), but Trina and Mina manage to defeat Trowa and set things straight. Other Adults * Ward Riffin (Christopher Titus): Trina's estranged father. Little is known about him, aside from him working as a freelance cable guy and later as a reporter. He caused Trina's mother to leave him and the rest of her family and, not able to cope with the guilt, neglected Trina and Corey, leading them to develop into what they are now. Deep down, he cares very much for Trina, but she isn't ready to fully forgive him yet. Ward's appearance is modeled after that of Stuart Charno, who has appeared in Strange's previous series (what is) Film. As of late, he has had only two appearances. * Mickey McDouglaston Chesterfield (Toby Huss): The elderly owner of A&M's. Contrary to what most would believe, he isn't a typical business tycoon, but rather someone who enjoys making consumers happy by whatever means, starkly contrasting to his younger stepbrother. * Alvin McDouglaston Chesterfield (Jim Wise (Eric Edelstein for his first appearance)): Mickey's accountant and a more strategic thinker when it comes to conducting business. He's a no-tolerance worker who would rather risk his life if it meant settling a business-related affair. * Rajae (Ajgie Kirkland): A cab driver the gang tends to encounter every now and again. He is a big fan of The Eagles and whenever anyone asks him to change the station when one of their songs are on, he kicks them out. He has appeared in Elliot Strange's other programs and maintains the same characterization in each. Additionally, he's based on a character Kirkland played in The Big Lebowski. * Earl (Brian Cummings): A customer who makes appearances whenever A&M's is featured. His first speaking role is See Me As I Work where he scolds Trina over a mistake with his order, and again in Don't Let the Documentary Do the Talking where Kathy takes food from his plate. It's implied that he has an obsession with Dane Cook. His name is never mentioned in the episodes, but his name is listed in the credits as Earl. Places * Wayne Static High: The school Trina and her friends attend. The school has ten floors, but only the first three were ever used. Because of this, various urban legends plague the school, which the staff uses in order to get more students to join. The school is structurally sound and is conveniently located at the end of the neighborhood. According to Principal Trager, the school was originally called Alexander Hamilton High, but it was changed out of respect for the lead singer of Trager's favorite band. * Vapor Burger: A local burger joint. It originally appeared in the first half of season one, with a prominent appearance in Turnaround where Trina and Mina get to choose from the secret menu. Near the end of season one, it was replaced by A&M's. In Bonehead, Trina implies that this restaurant was shut down by the Board of Health. * A&M's: A restaurant/gas station/convenience store that's loosely based on Sheetz. It's especially popular in the neighborhood thanks to the owners connecting with their clientele through social media.Trina briefly worked there as a cashier and later a fry cook before getting promoted to manager, but she eventually quit due to her making back the money she owed Estus. Reception Critics Common Sense Media gave the shoe 2.5 out of 5 stars, stating "It's serviceable for its intended audience, but there're far too many times when it goes too far." Critics have noticed that the animation didn't rely on Flash, instead being done with traditional animation and have praised the writing and humor, pointing out that it has a sense of sophistication and subtlety that could attract anyone of any age. Fans When news of the new series came out, fans were skeptical and outright panned the show, believing that it undermined the original and that it wouldn't succeed. They didn't believe it would be a terrible series, but rather one that doesn't work as well as the original. When the show premiered, the fans became more open to it, praising the animation and the writers' attempts at keeping the former show's humor. They noted that the characters that were kept from Grojband had more of the same personality they had prior, only slightly altered to fit their new roles.